SYDNEY (Reuters) - A large meteor possibly the size of a boulder came close to striking the earth in South Australia state on Thursday night, local media reported on Friday.

Residents of Goolwa and Victor Harbour, south of the state capital Adelaide, inundated police with reports of a flash of blue light, smoke trails and two sonic booms.

Bryan Boyle of the Anglo-Australian space-watching telescope in the eastern state of New South Wales told the Australian Broadcasting Corp that the sightings suggested the object was a meteor which came within 19 miles of the ground.

"Occasionally you get a very large size of rock, the size of a stone up to a boulder, and they only occur one at a time," he said.

Having worked all night, Boyle was unavailable for comment early on Friday.

Residents of South Australia said they heard a whoosh.

"It came straight over the top and left a huge smoke trail and there was two huge sonic booms afterwards," a man named Ken told ABC. "It was incredible."